The expression of chick EphA7 during segmentation of the central and peripheral nervous system.

We have isolated a novel chick Eph-related receptor that corresponds to the EphA7 gene. Within the nervous system, EphA7 expression is restricted to prosomeres 1 and 2 in the diencephalon and all the rhombomeres in the hindbrain during segmentation stages. Later on, a superimposed pattern appears that correlates with the formation of several axonal tracts. In the somitic mesoderm, the expression correlates with segmentation and the guidance of both neural crest and motor axons through the sclerotomes.